Brown sweeps sprints as De Grasse pulls up hurt

OTTAWA A night after Aaron Brown captured a thrilling men’s 100 metre title, the 200 metres had plenty of drama as well — but for all the wrong reasons.

Brown won the 200 to complete the short sprints sweep at the Canadian track and field championships on Saturday, but the field was missing Andre De Grasse to a hamstring injury and Gavin Smellie to an odd late false start call.

“I had to run against who’s in the field, and that’s exactly what I did,” Brown, of Toronto, said. “I literally won by a nose (Friday) night in the 100, and I had a pretty comfortable win in the 200 and I’m pleased with it. I can build off this.”

Brown, who’d won the 100 by a thousandth of a second the previous night, led from the gun to capture the 200 crown, his fourth Canadian senior title, in 20.17 seconds. Jerome Blake of Kelowna, B.C., was second in 20.38, while Mobolade Ajomale of Richmond Hill, Ont., won the bronze in 20.62.

De Grasse, the Canadian record-holder in the 200, had finished third in the 100 but pulled up with a hamstring injury in his 200 semifinal Saturday.

De Grasse, a triple Olympic medallist in 2016, has had a tough time in his comeback from the hamstring injury that knocked him out of last summer’s world championships.

Smellie, meanwhile, withdrew from the 200 final after having to run his semifinal twice. The sprinter from Mississauga, Ont., was in a semi that was called back for a false start, but the gun didn’t sound until the runners were already around the bend.

Meanwhile, Crystal Emmanuel won the women’s 200 a day after winning the 100, and as always, entertained the crowd with a celebratory scream after crossing the line.